Thursday September 18, 2008.
My plan was to leave as close to 4:00 A.M. as possible hoping to avoid some of the brutal temperatures across the Mojave Desert. Also in the plan was to eat breakfast in Bakersfield 2.5 hours south of our home. What wasn't in the plan was my waking up at 2:30 A.M. after a fitful few hours of sleep. So in order to make the best of these wee hours I got up and made breakfast for the both of us. On the menu were, fresh veggie omelet with sausage, fresh ground coffee, OJ, and toast.
Cool mountain air greets us as I open the garage door. We decided on what layers were needed to keep the bones warm and down the driveway we roll. The roads were fairly empty of cars and trucks until we got to CA99. At this point the race begins. CA99's regular drivers possess a NASCAR mentality. I have never seen the trophy girls, the checkered flag, or the cardboard winners check over the many times I have ridden on this road. Tailgating or should I call it drafting is a common occurrence on CA99. And so it goes all the way to I-5, but for us we will be taking CA58 eastbound in Bakersfield. Before we get there I’m now feeling the effects of getting up at 2:00 A.M. I was getting drowsy. The obvious problem is I have to be awake. In Bakersfield we stop for fuel and coffee.
Still a bit sleep deprived I awaken once on the road and we turn eastbound onto CA58. The freeway slowly begins to gain elevation as we approach in the Techachapi Mountains. By the time we reach Krammer Junction we stop for a break, remove layers in preparation for the impending heat ahead and share a club sandwich. Back on the bike we soldier on to Needles via I40. A little past Newberry Springs, CA we come upon a roadside rest stop. And so it was, both of us sleeping on the lawn at a rest stop in the desert beneath dappled shade. A two-hour nap made a big difference in my day.
This stretch of I40 has a posted speed of 70MPH and rolls on summit after summit for miles without an opportunity to refuel. The BMW fuel gauge has been flashing a warning for miles. A dash-dash-dash indicates the tank is drying and still Needles is 40 miles away. I reduce my speed and oddly enough the posted speed also drops to 55MPH for no apparent reason. Miles pass and the signs now post 70MPH. I see another motorcyclist on the down hill side into Needles talking on a cell phone, to someone I presumed, for a fuel delivery. I also see Needles in the distance and give a sigh of relief as I can almost coast into town. The bike had 0.5 gals left in the tank. What a worrywart! We also pulled into a small restaurant for a late afternoon snack. Kingman, Az. will be our last stop for the day. Today 485 miles.
Friday. This morning we awake to our first vision of many clear clean air days. After breakfast at the nearby JB cafe we ride eighteen miles east of Kingman on I-40 to connect with US93 southbound. We were enjoying the fresh air, blue sky and perfect temperature, and a smooth, freshly paved, silent roadway and wham a bee stings me through my mesh jacket sleeve. That little bugger felt like someone stabbed me with an Exacto knife. It must have been a Killer Bee. Juanita applies hydrocortisone cream from her magic bag of tricks. Women always carry the right stuff. Back on the road and shortly eastbound on AZ71 through mountainous desert terrain we connect with AZ89, and AZ69, and then stop in Prescott, AZ for lunch. Across the street from the saloon where we lunch on mushroom soup and half a Ruben is Prescott's government center. The center is park like with tall trees. We walk between them hearing an unbelievable chatter. In those trees crawl cicadas. Each tree is full of winged creatures and each takes it’s own turn to call out in a crescendo that raises and falls not unlike a stadium of cheering fans in a wave.
Juanita consults the GPS (ground positioning sheet)
Further eastbound we take AZ169 and AZ260 through the cool clean mountain air scented in pine and cedar lining the roadway. In Show Low, AZ we locate a tidy motel and stop for the night. A short walk for a Mexican dinner tops off the day and we get a good night sleep. Today 348 miles.
Saturday morning we ate breakfast in the motel lobby-kitchen. From Show Low US60 will combine with AZ60. Further eastbound and we are riding through Springerville and we take US191 southbound. Several miles south of Springerville there is the wide spot in Nutrioso Creek along the roadway. This is a good opportunity to stop, relax and take in the beauty it offers. We watched as ducks skimmed the water’s glassy surface.
US191 is a very well known asphalt ribbon of beauty. It is also called the Coronado Trail. More than a hundred miles of conifer lined two-lane highway with both sweeping and tight curves culminating in the exact opposite terrain in Morenci, AZ. Morenci is the home of Phelps Dodge copper mining. That’s deep open pit copper mining. Stop for a look into the bowels of this mine. Far below trucks so tall and huge a tire could crush my house and the 200 tons of truck and ore would never skip a beat. Today is Miner’s Day and causing most of the town to close for the afternoon. Luckily we find the only open cafe and duck in for lunch. A couple of BMW riders from Phoenix come in and we chat it up a bit. After lunch we take AZ78 eastbound into the mountains eventually entering into New Mexico. The road switches to NM78 where we ride on to US180 northbound until it meets with NM12. Dark clouds with rainsqualls looming in the short distance warned me that we would soon get wet. For a few miles we watched as the largest rainbow I have ever seen reached from the right hand horizon high into the sky and back down to the left hand horizon. A more spectacular arch in a vivid display of thick bands of color you may never see. This is great stuff and my little point and shoot camera lens can’t capture it. I’ll have to store it in gray matter memory. I pulled to the side of the road for us to hurriedly put on our warmer gear. Watching behind the safety of a rough sawn fence were curious cattle straining their necks to see what the fuss was about alongside the bug encrusted mechanical horse.
Dodge Phelps Mining works.
At Datil we continue eastbound now on US60 toward Magdalena as the last rays of the sun slip under the horizon behind us. At this point the road is under construction. 60 plus miles ahead of me consisting of freshly scuffed dusty asphalt without a centerline and it’s now dark. The posted speed was 35mph. It has been a long day and Magdalena had no rooms to rent. Our next real hope of a motel was in Socorro and I was more than ready to get off this 35mph roadway. It wasn’t to be. More construction and at these speeds I had an hour more to go. Upon closing the distance the lights of Socorro promised a room and a hot meal. We stopped for dinner procured a room and slept in a squeaky double bed. Today 394 miles.
Sunday morning presented itself clear and mildly cool. Breakfast at the family diner with the locals just up the main drag was good. 90-octane fuels at the Conoco station made me second look the pump. Weird! The 75mph posted speed limit on I25 gave me a quite a smile under my dark shielded Arai. Quickly we reach our next junction, again back on US60 eastbound. The bright morning sun in contrast to the previous night's ride showed us how poor a rural land New Mexico is. Shells of cars, trucks, tractors, campers, trailers, and chicken coups cover the immediate yards of the inhabitants within the broken down structures called home. They are not alone. The landscape has more of the same next to beautiful adobe like homes. The soil is red, the sky blue, and the flora is green with colorful blooms holding on in the last bits of early fall. We have some time to kill so we stop at Abo, an ancient Native American pueblo.
Abo ruins – Low overhead
The handmade adobe mortar clinging to the rocks these structures are made of have been tested by wind and rain for centuries. Now in ruins, vestiges of the once great community still stand.
Abo ruins - Ancient home
Abo ruins - The Church
We quietly walk about imagining what life was like when this region buzzed with trade. Further east we turn north on NM41 for a ride on a road plumb line straight for 60 miles save for a slight jog to the right. An hour later I connect to NM285. By around 1pm we reach our destination in Eldorado at Santa Fe to stay with friends for three more days in this beautiful enchanted land. Today 150 miles.
Santa Fe Sunset
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